I Solemnly Swear that I am Up to No Good
by Valentine Vampire
Summary: Marauders story, starting out with the time Sirius gets Snape to go into the the Shrieking Shack abd almost gets him killed. It'll lead into more made-up stuff, but it's easiest for me to start out with an interpretation.
1. Plotting

**This is my first Harry Potter fanfic, so please give me a little break and excuse the lame title. **

"Oi! Remus!" a teenage boy with long, scraggly dark hair ran down the east corridor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Another boy, the same age, though a bit shorter and sporting shorter blond hair, turned around to look at the boy trying to catch up to him. "Need help in Transfiguration, do you?" he asked with a sigh.

"As a matter of fact, no," the shaggy-haired boy crossed his arms. "It's Potions this time." Remus let out a single short laugh.

"Can't help you there," he said. "You'll have to get Snape for that one." A small grin spread across Remus' face.

"I've got a better idea," the other boy said, a smirk developing on his handsome face. "When's your little transformation supposed to happen?"

Remus' smile faded instantly. "I don't want to talk about it, Sirius," he said firmly.

"Come on, Moony," Sirius jumped in front of Remus, who had started walking again. "Whose going to keep you company when you start tearin' up the Shrieking Shack?"

"Don't talk like that," Remus frowned, slight fury in his voice.

"Padfoot! Moony!" a third boy called from behind the two. Sirius looked over Remus' shoulder to see his two other friends jogging after them. The one who had called them was a tall, fit boy with jet-black hair and round glasses. A short, fat boy was trying to keep up.

"I was just asking Moony here when he was due for a visit to the Shrieking Shack," Sirius stepped sideways.

"Why's that?" the be-spectacled boy asked.

"We didn't make ourselves Animaguses for nothing, Clueless," Sirius informed his friend with a bark-like laugh.

"I really wish you three wouldn't do this," Remus said quietly. "It makes me feel like a freak or something."

"Oh, you've got to admit it's pretty cool," Sirius grinned in an almost maniacal way. "Don't you think so, James?"

"Oh yes," the boy with glasses returned the smile, "spending an entire night in a wooden shack tearing at your face with claws and biting yourself with fangs must be _loads _of fun." The fat boy laughed.

"You wouldn't say that if _you _were a werewolf," Remus scowled.

"Just tell us, Moony," James urged.

"Tomorrow night," Remus sighed in a defeated way.

"Full moon!" Sirius bellowed, attracting the attention of a passerby from Ravenclaw. "Ready to spend the night in the most haunted building in London?" He had maintained his maniacal grin. The fat boy laughed again.

"I'll bet you'd love it if you were the reason for a rumor like that one, Padfoot," Remus folded his arms.

"You bet I would!" Sirius said.

"We'll be late for Charms if we don't hurry," Remus quickly changed the subject, and hurried ahead without a response.

"He always gets this way…" James muttered.

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged, then turned to look at the fat boy. "Peter, I need you to help me with something."

Peter looked shocked that Sirius wanted him to do something for him. "What?" he asked.

"Snivellus reads under that beech tree by the Black Lake every afternoon, right?" Sirius asked. Peter and James nodded at the same time. "So all I need you to do is play along later, alright? I'll explain later." Peter nodded again, and all three took off down the hall to Charms.

Later that day, after the classes had all ended, the four companions were strolling down the grounds toward the lake. All were wearing their Gryffindor robes, except for James, who was wearing his Quidditch uniform.  
"See you after practice," he told his three friends as they passed the Quidditch Pitch. All three waved and carried on, Sirius conveniently leading the way.

They stopped under a large oak tree where nobody was sitting. Remus was the first to sit up against the tree trunk and plunge into a text book: O.W.L.S were that year.

"We'll, uh, see you in a minute," Sirius said. Remus only grunted in response.

Sirius took Peter to a clearing between the beech tree at which Snape was reading alone and their oak tree.

"So, Wormtail," Sirius said loud enough for Snape to hear, but quiet enough so he wouldn't be suspicious, "ready for tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, but I hope nobody knows we're all going to be at the Whomping Willow so late," Peter said. His acting wasn't the best, but it got Severus Snape's attention.

"Aw, they won't find out," Sirius laughed.

"But how do you get under the tree? It'll kill you before you get under the branches," Peter said.

"I _told _you, Wormtail," Sirius folded his arms. "Just prod that big knot in the trunk and the thing freezes up like water in winter." Sirius risked a glance at Severus out of the corner of his eye. The greasy-haired boy was looking at them with great interest and hate mixed with what Sirius knew was the hopefulness to catch them doing something against the rules.

Both casually walked back to the oak tree and sat down next to Remus.

"What was that all about?" Remus asked, putting down his book.

"Did you hear us?" Sirius asked, swishing the hair out of his gray eyes.

"Nothing but a bunch of babbling," Remus answered. "Another one of your plans on tormenting Snape?"

"You could say that," Sirius said, then looked at Remus skeptically. "You're not going to use your almighty Prefect powers and throw us in detention, are you?"

"Don't be an idiot," Remus shook his head. "If I was going to do that I would have done it ages ago."

Sirius put his hands behind his head and leaned against the tree. "Good to know."

**Thanks for reading it so far! But I'm sorry to say you can't be expecting daily updates; school's evil. **


	2. Werewolf at the Whomping Willow

**Well, maybe not daily updates... here's the second chapter. **

"Oi! Remus!" a teenage boy with long, scraggly dark hair ran down the east corridor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Another boy, the same age, though a bit shorter and sporting shorter blond hair, turned around to look at the boy trying to catch up to him. "Need help in Transfiguration, do you?" he asked with a sigh.

"As a matter of fact, no," the shaggy-haired boy crossed his arms. "It's Potions this time." Remus let out a single short laugh.

"Can't help you there," he said. "You'll have to get Snape for that one." A small grin spread across Remus' face.

"I've got a better idea," the other boy said, a smirk developing on his handsome face. "When's your little transformation supposed to happen?"

Remus' smile faded instantly. "I don't want to talk about it, Sirius," he said firmly.

"Come on, Moony," Sirius jumped in front of Remus, who had started walking again. "Whose going to keep you company when you start tearin' up the Shrieking Shack?"

"Don't talk like that," Remus frowned, slight fury in his voice.

"Padfoot! Moony!" a third boy called from behind the two. Sirius looked over Remus' shoulder to see his two other friends jogging after them. The one who had called them was a tall, fit boy with jet-black hair and round glasses. A short, fat boy was trying to keep up.

"I was just asking Moony here when he was due for a visit to the Shrieking Shack," Sirius stepped sideways.

"Why's that?" the be-spectacled boy asked.

"We didn't make ourselves Animaguses for nothing, Clueless," Sirius informed his friend with a bark-like laugh.

"I really wish you three wouldn't do this," Remus said quietly. "It makes me feel like a freak or something."

"Oh, you've got to admit it's pretty cool," Sirius grinned in an almost maniacal way. "Don't you think so, James?"

"Oh yes," the boy with glasses returned the smile, "spending an entire night in a wooden shack tearing at your face with claws and biting yourself with fangs must be _loads _of fun." The fat boy laughed.

"You wouldn't say that if _you _were a werewolf," Remus scowled.

"Just tell us, Moony," James urged.

"Tomorrow night," Remus sighed in a defeated way.

"Full moon!" Sirius bellowed, attracting the attention of a passerby from Ravenclaw. "Ready to spend the night in the most haunted building in London?" He had maintained his maniacal grin. The fat boy laughed again.

"I'll bet you'd love it if you were the reason for a rumor like that one, Padfoot," Remus folded his arms.

"You bet I would!" Sirius said.

"We'll be late for Charms if we don't hurry," Remus quickly changed the subject, and hurried ahead without a response.

"He always gets this way…" James muttered.

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged, then turned to look at the fat boy. "Peter, I need you to help me with something."

Peter looked shocked that Sirius wanted him to do something for him. "What?" he asked.

"Snivellus reads under that beech tree by the Black Lake every afternoon, right?" Sirius asked. Peter and James nodded at the same time. "So all I need you to do is play along later, alright? I'll explain later." Peter nodded again, and all three took off down the hall to Charms.

Later that day, after the classes had all ended, the four companions were strolling down the grounds toward the lake. All were wearing their Gryffindor robes, except for James, who was wearing his Quidditch uniform.  
"See you after practice," he told his three friends as they passed the Quidditch Pitch. All three waved and carried on, Sirius conveniently leading the way.

They stopped under a large oak tree where nobody was sitting. Remus was the first to sit up against the tree trunk and plunge into a text book: O.W.L.S were that year.

"We'll, uh, see you in a minute," Sirius said. Remus only grunted in response.

Sirius took Peter to a clearing between the beech tree at which Snape was reading alone and their oak tree.

"So, Wormtail," Sirius said loud enough for Snape to hear, but quiet enough so he wouldn't be suspicious, "ready for tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, but I hope nobody knows we're all going to be at the Whomping Willow so late," Peter said. His acting wasn't the best, but it got Severus Snape's attention.

"Aw, they won't find out," Sirius laughed.

"But how do you get under the tree? It'll kill you before you get under the branches," Peter said.

"I _told _you, Wormtail," Sirius folded his arms. "Just prod that big knot in the trunk and the thing freezes up like water in winter." Sirius risked a glance at Severus out of the corner of his eye. The greasy-haired boy was looking at them with great interest and hate mixed with what Sirius knew was the hopefulness to catch them doing something against the rules.

Both casually walked back to the oak tree and sat down next to Remus.

"What was that all about?" Remus asked, putting down his book.

"Did you hear us?" Sirius asked, swishing the hair out of his gray eyes.

"Nothing but a bunch of babbling," Remus answered. "Another one of your plans on tormenting Snape?"

"You could say that," Sirius said, then looked at Remus skeptically. "You're not going to use your almighty Prefect powers and throw us in detention, are you?"

"Don't be an idiot," Remus shook his head. "If I was going to do that I would have done it ages ago."

Sirius put his hands behind his head and leaned against the tree. "Good to know."

Remus looked fearfully at the rising moon. Despite the warm weather, a chill ran up his spine.  
"Ready, Moony?" Sirius asked. His excitement had died away and was replaced with concern for his friend.

Remus nodded and walked ahead of the group.

"Wormtail, you're on," James looked at Peter. The chubby boy nodded, and, before you could ask what had happened, he disappeared. Or at least it appeared that he had. In the pile of clothes lying where Peter had stood one second ago was a rat, which made its way under the branches of the Whomping Willow. After touching the knot on the tree, the rat that was Peter emerged back from underneath the leaves and returned to human form.

"Go on, Moony," James urged. Remus hesitated.

"Why aren't you coming?" he asked quietly.

"We'll be there in a minute," Sirius answered, holding a confused James back. "You go on ahead; I've got somethin' to tell these three." Remus still didn't move. "You want to turn into a werewolf out here?" Sirius asked firmly. Remus sighed and disappeared underneath the branches of the immobilized willow.

"What's this about?" James rounded on Sirius.

A mischievous grin spread across Sirius' face. "Just waiting for Snivellus," he shrugged, and pulled his two remaining companions into a nearby bush. Before James could ask anymore questions, a dark, cloaked figure taking long strides emerged from the left, from the direction of the castle.

"That'll be Snivellus," Sirius craned his neck for a better look.

Snape was now just at the Whomping Willow, which was now returned to its normal state of readying itself to squash anyone who tried to pass through its branches. He picked up a long stick nearby and, after a bit of searching the trunk, poked the knot in the wood.

Sirius and Peter heard a slight intake of breath from James as he watched Snape disappear into the passageway into the Shrieking Shack.

"Sirius!" James whispered, starting to get up. Sirius yanked him back down.

"Shhh!" he said.

"No!" James said, jerking his robes out of Sirius' grip. "This is more than one of our little jokes, Sirius. This is life and death! Do you want Remus to be guilty of murder?"

"It's not like he'll be able to help it," Sirius hissed. "You can't charge a werewolf of intended murder."

"So you want him to live with it the rest of his life, do you?" James jerked his head around to face Sirius, who was still sitting next to Peter in the bush. Peter watched with wide eyes. "Forty years from now you want Remus to remember that he killed Snape?"

"Doesn't matter now," Sirius' voice was raised now. "He'll be at the door by now."

James ignored Sirius and took off running toward the still-frozen tree. Before Sirius could stop him he had disappeared just as Remus and Severus had.

Neither Sirius nor Peter followed him, but waited nervously, hoping James would return safely.

"_Lumos_," James muttered. The earthen tunnel suddenly lit up from the ghost-like light at the tip of his wand. "Snape!" he called desperately. Once he reached the end of the tunnel his breath grew less panicked at he saw that Snape was still standing before a closed door. The dark figure jerked his head around to face James. His wand was lit just as James had done.

"Come to stop me, Potter?" he snarled. "Come to stop me from seeing what you and your friend Black are doing out on the grounds at midnight?"

"I came to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life, you bloody idiot!" James nearly shouted.

"Nice try at a cover-up," Snape spat, and reached for the handle before him.

"Don't!" James warned, but it was too late. The door opened, and a fanged, clawed Remus turned his cold, black, beast-eyes on Snape. Though James was facing his back, he could sense Snape's utter shock and terror as the creature that was Remus let out a horrible howl and bared his fangs.

"Close the door!" James screamed. Despite his shock, Severus managed to slam the door shut before the werewolf sliced at his face with razor-sharp claws. Instead, the claws slashed at the door. Both fear-stricken boys heard snarls as Remus clawed and bit at the wooden door.

"Come on," James grabbed Severus' cloak and began to drag him away from the door. Severus jerked away angrily but continued to follow.

"Who was that, Potter?" he demanded. His voice shook with fear, regardless of his anger.

"It doesn't matter," James muttered.

"Who was it?" Severus shouted. James whirled around and glared at his, jaw set with fury.

"That," he growled, "was Remus." He paused briefly to watch Snape's reaction. "Now I think," he continued, "Professor Dumbledore'll want to know you almost got gored my a werewolf."

"Does he know one of his Prefects is a _werewolf_?" Snape shouted with intense hate.

"Yeah," James said, lowering his voice. He started walked again; the moonlight shining dimly through the entrance was only a few feet ahead. "He had this place built so Remus could stay here every time he transformed. That's how he got to come to school. Now I think Dumbledore's going to do a better job of explaining things, so just shut up until we get to him."

Snape looked like he was going to kill James, but he said nothing, bottling his anger up. At least for the time-being.

After a long visit to Dumbledore's office, the four boys returned to their house common rooms far past midnight. Dumbledore had said that he would see to it that Remus was kept safe until daylight.

All three boys laid on their backs on their beds, unable to sleep. James was playing around with his stolen Snitch as Peter watched with wide eyes. Sirius was tossing a Muggle rubber ball in the air and catching it, half entranced.

"Well, we can thank you for letting Snivellus know Remus is a werewolf," James pocketed the Snitch and glared at Sirius, who was brought out of his half-trance. The ball fell back down as he forgot to catch it and hit him on the head.

"Guess I didn't really think it through," Sirius shrugged, rubbing his head, though it didn't hurt at all.

"All the more reason to do it," James muttered angrily. "And why'll you're at it, why don't you explain why _I_ have to serve a week's worth of detentions with you two?"

"Don't ask _me _how Dumbledore's brain works," Sirius said. "Don't think even _he _knows that one." Peter snickered.

"Shut up, Wormtail," James growled.

"Well, I can't help it if he's got a point," Peter defended himself.

"Well, let's look on the dark side again," James glared once again at Sirius. "Thanks to you we couldn't go down there and keep Moony company."

"Your point?" Sirius asked nonchalantly.

"What do you think he's going to say when people see he's got scratches all over his face in the morning?" James demanded. For the first time Sirius looked worried. He scowled.

"Didn't really think it through," he repeated grimly.

**I'm a little ways through the third chapter. If any of you have any ideas for an "adventure" or whatever storyline you can think of, PM me, because I really haven't the faintest idea what to write about next. Please R&R!**


	3. Friendship Fights

"Moony," James approached Remus the next day with guilty looking Sirius and Peter. A tired-looking Remus turned around to face them and stopped on his way to the portrait hole in the common room. There was an intake of breath from all three as Remus revealed a large cut on his face, going from one side of his face to the other. It was accompanied by several smaller scrapes, and the three were sure that if Remus were to roll up his sleeves there would be several bite-marks.

"You wanted to say something?" he interrupted the shocked silence.

"Look, Remus, we're really so-" Sirius was interrupted as Remus put a hand up.

"No need," he said wearily. "I should have known better when I saw you two making a scene in front of Snape." With one last drained look, he turned back around, tediously carrying his books, and left the common room without his three friends.

"See what you did?" James glared at Sirius.

"Stop trying to make me feel guilty!" Sirius shouted. "Remus made sure that happened already!" Now Sirius took his turn in leaving the group behind, only instead of leaving quietly, he made certain to stalk off and slam the door shut behind him.

With a defeated sigh, James opened the door and followed Sirius, though never catching up until they reached their first class, with Peter following closely behind.

In Potions Remus said nothing to anyone, doing his best to ignore Snape's glaring. Sirius was grinding moonstone like there was no tomorrow, missing the bowl every other time. His teeth were gritted and he made certain not to look up even to listen to Professor Slughorn give instructions.

"Padfoot," James whispered, nudging Sirius, who simply flicked his head so that his long, shaggy hair fell over his eyes. "I was just going to ask whether or not you knew we had Quidditch practice Saturday," James frowned.

"Can't go," Sirius didn't look up; he seemed incredibly interested in adding drops of syrup of hellebore to his Draught of Peace. Unfortunately, he must have been less interested than he seemed, for he was soon pouring half of the bottle into his cauldron.

"Why not?" James demanded, abandoning his potion.

"Five minutes to go!" Slughorn announced. Sirius quickly began stirring it, first three times clockwise, the opposite of the directions.

"We've got detention, remember?" Sirius straightened up as Slughorn passed his table. "_Thanks to me?_"

"Now, now, Black," Slughorn tutted as he glanced at Sirius' potion, which, instead of being silver, as the directions stated, was an alarming blood-red. "You'll need to pay more attention to the lesson if you want to pass my class, you know." Sirius looked at Snape just in time to see the Slytherin sneer. Sirius glared back; if looks could kill, Snape would be dead.

"Fantastic!" James couldn't' help but raise his voice angrily. "How do expect us to win against Slytherin with a Seeker and Beater unprepared?"

"Do you expect I _wanted _to miss practice?" Sirius stood as the bell rang. Peter nervously stood and followed his friends out the door, staying close to Remus, who was still silent.

"I at least expected you knew that trying to get someone killed would land us in detention _at the least_!" James said, turning a few heads.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Remus spoke for the first time since morning. All three other boys' heads snapped around. "The game was cancelled."

"What?" Peter asked, looking stricken. "Why's that?"

Remus shrugged. "Slytherin's backed out for some reason." Sirius' usual grin returned.

"Well, that changes things," he said happily, looking at James.

"Doesn't mean the practice was cancelled," James huffed. "And we still have detentions for a week."

"Yeah, well, I'll bet we won't be locked in there too long," Sirius shrugged. "Flitwick'll give us a break."

"Easy for you to say," James groaned. "I've got mine with McGonagall. Sirius winced dramatically.

"Don't suppose you'd get away with the two-way-mirror?"

"Not a chance. McGonagall never takes her eyes off her victims."

"Think she'll keep you more than an hour?"

"Most likely."

Peter walked awkwardly beside Remus in silence, feeling left out.

"Mine's not until after you both have finished," he interrupted. James and Sirius jumped, obviously just remembering that they weren't the only ones in castle.

"McGonagall?" James asked him. Peter shook his head and said "Flitwick."

"It's just not fair!" James burst. "I go and save Snivellus' life, and I'm the one stuck with McGonagall!"

"Dumbledore doesn't look at it that way," Remus said suddenly. "He just sees whose available and dished the detentions out at random."

"You _can _speak!" Sirius cheered, clapping Remus on the back, whose lip twitched, but refused to smile.

As the four queued outside of Charms, a good handful of students shamelessly stared at Remus' marked face.

"Oi!" Sirius bellowed. "What're you starin' at!" The staring students immediately turned their gaze to the door.

"Shhh.," Remus muttered nervously. "You're only making it worse."

The doors then opened, and the students all looked down in front of them to see Professor Flitwick standing in the doorway. As Sirius passed him, the short little man smiled and said "I'll see you later today, Mr. Black."

**At last I've come to a point where I don't really think I can continue without suggestions. Please, I'm on my knees, if you have ANY ideas please please please send them to me! I'll ♥ you forever and ever amen!**


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